Papers fail to cover cracks in China

Rioting students in the Chinese province of Henan have received very little coverage in their own national newspapers, writes Joseph Mackertich.

Students, angry at last minute changes made to the titles of their degrees, have staged one of the most prolonged student protests since the 1989 pro-democracy uprising that filled Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. The Hong Kong publication Ming Pao suggests that, at its worst, 10,000 people may have been rioting in Zhengzhou.

Students commenting on the Ming Pao site [you can find a translation here] described damages greater than originally suspected.

This group of several thousand people rushed onto the street ... and smashed everything on the street: street lamps, telephone booths, bathhouses, banks, Wow! ... The front gate of the school was overturned. The statue of the founder was set on fire.

Elsewhere students were in an ebullient mood:

We dared to oppose the unreasonable actions of the school and it was a mighty act to dare to take revenge against the dictatorial ways of the school leadership.

The Washington Postclaims that students are angry that their diplomas would not bear the name of the Zhengzhou university, but instead a less prestigious affiliated college. One student, Yvonne, posting on the V-Link educational site, said she had been cheated out of three years.

The students have been championed by national and international bloggers, who recognise the problems as having stemmed from a wider cause. Commentary at the Laowiseass blog suggest it can be linked to a kind of inter-provincial animosity:

Perhaps the students in Henan were tired ... of Shanghai and other coastal cities enjoying economic prosperity while the interior of China is left to struggle.

Not all comment is positive - the actions of rioters were looked down on by many other Chinese students. One commenter on The Eastsouthnorthwest calls the riots "an insane bout of destruction", while another contributor laments the actions of "certain low-life students who took advantage of the occasion to loot stores". One anonymous Communist party official has appeared on most of the news sites covering the story, claiming that the students are incoherent and don't know what they want.

There have been a growing number or demonstrations and riots throughout mainland China in recent years, sparked by popular fears to do with the widening gap between rich and poor, as well as official corruption. These, and other protests in countryside areas, often reach violent and emotional conclusions. Some online believe that the reasons for the recent protests are not nearly as important as the protest itself, wherein China's disenfranchised and underrepresented are finding ways to air their grievances.